[blindlaw] Best Buy response to my Human Rights complaint

[E.J. Zufelt]

Note: no damages were sought when I filed this complaint.

Schedule “A”

ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 


BETWEEN:

EVERETT ZUFELT
Complainant

- and -


BEST BUY CANADA LTD. 
Respondent


RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSE
TO COMPLAINT


1.	The Respondent Company, Best Buy Canada Ltd. (“Best Buy”, the “Company” or “Respondent”), deny all allegations set forth in the Complaint, unless expressly admitted, and put the Complainant to the strict proof thereof.

2.	The Respondents deny having contravened any of the Complainant’s rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) with respect to his disability.   

3.	Best Buy is a corporation incorporated pursuant to the laws of Canada, having its head office in Burnaby, British Columbia.  The Company carries on a retail electronics business with numerous retail outlets throughout Ontario.

The Complainant’s Concerns 

4.	The Respondents expressly deny that the Complainant was discriminated on the basis of his disability. 

The Respondent’s Concerns

5.	The Companies methods of payment include, cash, credit card, and debit.  

6.	The Complainant attended Store # 605 to make a purchase using his Debit Card.  Due to the flat screen POSS the Complainant was not able to complete the transaction using this method of payment.   

7.	Store employees suggested the Complainant use a credit card or have a companion aid with the completion of the Debit Card transaction or return with cash. 

8.	The Complainant wrote to the Toronto Star regarding his shopping experience.  

9.	The Companies Communications team responded to the Toronto Star’s investigation with the facts outline above.  

10.	The Companies Senior Corporate Counsel also spoke with the Complaint regarding his concerns.  

11.	The Company completed the deployment of a new point of sale system (“POSS”) in October 2009.

12.	In or around December 2009, the Company became aware that the lack of tactile keypads in the POSS could be problematic for vision impaired customers.  

13.	The Company investigated this issue immediately and researched possible solutions for this issue that could be integrated into the newly implemented POSS.  The POSS is an American system that uses flat screen technology and therefore finding tactile technology that could be integrated into the POSS is difficult.  

14.	A viable tactile solution was discovered on our about November 2009 and the implementation process was commenced.  The tactile solution must be approved for use by our third party payment service providers, including but not limited to Interac.  The various approvals took several months to receive/ 

15.	After receiving the necessary approvals, the Company purchased the tactile solution, on or about April 2010.  

16.	The Company completed testing of the tactile solution in order to ensure customer privacy and to ensure that the solution would rectify the issue for our vision impaired customers.  

17.	Iimplementation of the tactile solution is planned for August 2010 and is estimated to be complete by October 2010.  

18.	Best Buy respectfully request that this Complaint be dismissed with no award for damages.  


Everett Zufelt
http://zufelt.ca

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